Millard wins Joe Donato Scratch Singles

Charlie Millard took the long road to victory, both in his trip from Waverly to Schenectady, and in match play, winning all five of his matches on his way to winning the Joe Donato Scratch Singles championship.

Charlie just missed receiving a one round bye during the four games of finalists qualifying by two pins as he finished seventh (the top six received byes).

He sure didn’t need the bye however, as he rolled games of 257, 240, 234, 248 and 237 in his five match wins.

Averaging 243 on an easy condition in match play is solid, but to average that on a very difficult condition (WTBA Atlanta) is exemplary.

The recipe for Charlie’s victory was simple: making good shot after good shot.

For Frankie Calca, that is now the third time he has finished second in the area’s biggest tournaments in the past two years as he has finished second in the last two Donato’s tournaments and the General’s Challenge earlier this bowling season.

It is quite a feat to be able to win that many matches in the biggest tournaments we have here.

Overall, the Donato’s may have been down in entries (roughly 100 or so) compared to the past two years, but that did not detract from the tournament, nor does it take anything away from it being a tremendous challenge for both local bowlers and out of town competitors. It remains one of the larger star laden fields of every bowling season.

If you want to test yourself against the best, the Donato’s tournament is one you should not miss each year.

Results from the finalists qualifying to the championship match are below.

Thanks will…. Tom and Tommy Donato run one the best tournaments in the state. Also I am very honored to have this my very first tournament win. It was a very strong match play finals. Thank you to everyone that stuck around to watch the match play.

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